Tuesday, December 05, 2006

A cold to remember…

A bitch caught the news this morning and it gave me pause.

Thousands of my fellow Missourians were without powerafter last week’s storm and thousands still are. The temperatures dropped well below freezing. Several people lost their lives to the cold…to accidental poisonings as a result of home generator accidents…to car accidents and other storm tragedies.

As the power is slowly being restored, the news gave account after account of the physical and emotional distress being out of power in the frigid cold has on an individual.The fact is that being cold, constantly hustling to stay warm and survive…the fear and physical pain of freezing temperatures are the norm for many people. The homeless and the poor often face the cold of night…those same conditions that drove us to whine and keen as if suffering the relentless terrors of hell are reality for thousands in every community.

This was indeed a cold to remember, so let’s all remember it even after the heat comes back on.

Get to know what agencies are working to end homelessness in your community and please support the work that they do.

4 comments:

We've had over 60 inches of snow since mid-November, and the snow plows have not been able to keep up. At my apartment, which is on a hill with only two narrow streets going up, the plows have been unable to get the snow removed clear to the sidewalks and the fuel trucks haven't been able to get up. My building has been without our regular, oil heat for two days. We are using electric space heaters, and that is cold enough since they don't heat the entire apartment. I'm sleeping in warm socks, warm nightie, heavy bathrobe and under every blanket in the house -- how awful it must be for people in St. Louis without the help of electric heaters I don't even want to think about.

Thanks for your post. It was 19 with wind chill this morning in NYC (I know that's nothing compared to what you've had, but considering that it was 60 on Sunday, the change was pretty harsh), and my thoughts also turned to folks without heat and/or without homes. I passed the homeless shelter where I used to work around lunchtime and no one was hanging around outside. I knew that inside it would probably be packed for lunch, with folks scrambling for seats while keeping an eye out for their stuff.

So thanks for reminding me that it's been a while since I did anything for folks who are cold while I'm warm, or ill while I'm healthy. Think I'll stop by the shelter and help serve lunch, or do some runs for God's Love We Deliver (meals for people with HIV, many of them too vulnerable to leave their homes, especially in the cold).

Dear Miss Shark-fu, my girls in creative writing 101 would like to ask permission to use and quote your last post as part af their Christmas term assignment. Cold has settled over Canada too and like you we have our share of homeless, ill, lame, abandoned and destitute souls who suffer a great deal during this season. I have asked my students to turn in their paper modelled on yours, always with your permission of course, in the hope that it will stir something inside them to look beyond the comfort of their little universe. I know how much they like and respect your writings so I am hopeful they will turn in a good paper and that it will carry on a lillte bit beyond just words. Awaiting your permission, your rruly #1 fans above the 49th paralell, Kirin & the creative writing class 101